Top Turkish officials have lashed out at the US, stating that
Turkey âis not a tribal stateâ and does not need Washingtonâs permission
to detain and prosecute suspects. The Turkish prime minister promised
to âretaliateâ over the suspension of non-immigrant visas.

Turkish
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has strongly criticized the US decision
to suspend issuing visas to Turkish citizens, following the arrest of
Metin Topuz, a Turkish citizen employed at the US consulate in Istanbul.

âThere is nothing to discuss with the US if the administration initiated the visa row,â Erdogan said on Tuesday, while speaking at a joint news conference with his Serbian counterpart, Aleksandar Vucic, in Belgrade.

Erdogan questioned whether the move was made by the US ambassador to Ankara or the administration itself.

If Turkeyâs ambassador to the US made such a move on his own, âwe would not keep him there for a second,â Erdogan said, as cited
by the Turkiye newspaper, adding that in that case the row could simply
be resolved by the US sacking the ambassador and overturning the ban.

The Turkish president denounced US Ambassador John Bass, stating that âwe donât see him as a representative of the United States in Turkeyâ and adding that senior Turkish officials would not receive his farewell visits.

While
Turkey retains the right to detain and prosecute its citizens working
for the US, Washington should ask itself how and why such âspiesâ infiltrated their diplomatic facilities in the first place, Erdogan said.

âThe
US needs to evaluate: How did these spies get in here? Who put them in
here? No state will allow such spies. Turkey is not a tribal state,â
Erdogan stated, apparently referring to Topuz and another consulate
employee for whom the Turkish authorities issued a detention warrant.

The presidentâs remarks were echoed by Turkeyâs PM, Binali Yildirim.

âTurkey is not a tribal state, we will retaliate against what has been done in kind,â Yildirim told ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) MPs on Tuesday.

While promising âretaliation,â Yildirim also took a somewhat reconciliatory stance, urging the US to be âmore reasonableâ and resolve the visa row âas soon as possible.â

âWho
are you punishing? You are making your citizens and ours pay the price,
this is not being serious. You can't run a country with emotional
decisions,â Yildirim said.

The recent flashpoint in Turkey-US
relations emerged last Wednesday with the arrest of Topuz, a US
consulate employee in Istanbul, over alleged links to the US-based
cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom Ankara named as a mastermind behind the
2016 botched coup attempt.

The arrest was criticized by the US embassy in Turkey as âdevaluingâ for relations between the two countries.

On Sunday, the embassy suspended issuing non-immigrant visas to Turkish citizens, citing Washingtonâs need to âreassess the commitment of the government of Turkey to the security of the US mission and personnel.â

Ankara
responded with a tit-for-tat move, suspending visas to US citizens and
issuing a detention warrant for a second US consulate worker, while
urging Washington to reverse its decision.